This was mainly an exercise in costume design, and I'm much happier with this one than my last Cardassian clothing design.

The character is Glinn Daro (Thouves Daro, in my Sigils and Unions stories). While I'm not so sure I did that well on the likeness, I am very pleased with what I've done on the clothing.

My idea, going into this design, was to create a form of ethnic dress belonging to a subculture I describe in my stories. I've tried to keep some of the basics of what you see on the actual shows of Cardassian aesthetics (you'll see certain angles that should remind you of Cardassian military uniforms, as well as the pylons of DS9 and the sigil of the Cardassian Union), but instead of the typical utilitarian approach, I opted for more elaborate embroidery work typical of national costume in many places around our own world.

In-story, this type of design dates back to the very early days of the Cardassian Union. In modern times it is worn mainly for ceremonial purposes, though there are a few who wear it on other occasions as well. As to why the hair maintains the ubiquitous men's style seen throughout the series...well, there are two reasons. First, Daro is a military officer and is going to stay in-regulation even when off duty given what a pain in the butt it would be to have to re-do his hair every time he goes back on duty. He's a man. He doesn't want to mess with that any more than necessary. Second...the reason for that style being almost nationwide with Cardassian men is that it was the way Union founder Tret Akleen wore his hair. At first some men adopted it as a tribute--but as the government got more and more repressive, it became a sign of conformity to the point where no one wanted to go against it lest they "look like trouble."

The Hăzăkda long-coat is inspired by the turn-of-the-century frock coat, as well as the Indian sherwani suit. (Visit here for some really cool examples of the sherwani.)